Hair curler



March 16, 1965 E. BRIEN HAIR CURLEIR Filed Dec. 12, 1960 INVENTOR 5m 8United States Patent ()fifice 3,173,439 HAIR CURLER Edith Brien,Canadian Research 8; Development Foundation, 1437 Van Horne Ava,Montreal, Quebec, Canada Filed Dec. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 75,370 2 Claims.(Cl. 132-49) This invention relates to improvements in hair curlers,and'more particularly to improvements in hair curlers adapted to formpin curls.

It is conventional practice to utilize hair curlers which entail firstlybinding the hair tightly around a spindle and then applying a clampingmeans, having the disadvantages that there is no allowance for varyinglength of hair so that the clamping means may be too loose or too tightmore often than it is correct, furthermore, the clamping means usuallyhave sharp projections which are harmful to the hair and alsouncomfortable to the wearer. Another disadvantage to this particularclamping means is that it does not have a positive lock and, upon thehair becoming dry, is liable to loosen and thereby release the curlerbefore the hair is properly curled.

Other means of putting in pin curls utilizing hair pins, springs and thelike, are equally disadvantageous inasmuch as they are usually sharp anduncomfortable to wear and prone to drop out of the hair before thecurling process is completed.

It is an object of this invention to provide a hair curler that willwind the hair in pin curls of any size.

It is another object of this invention to provide a hair curler that hascompletely smooth contours and therefore is not uncomfortable to thewearer.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a hair curler thatwill have a positive locking means regardless of the amount of haircurled therein.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a hair curler,the locking means for which will not snag or damage the hair.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a hair curlerthat will wind hair in from the root end instead of from the free end,thereby making the operation quicker, easier and less frustrating.

These and other objects and features of this invention will becomeapparent when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the outer body of a hair curlerembodying this invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the inner spindle of the hair curlerembodying this invention, adapted to be used with the outer body asillustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is .a diagrammatic view of a hair curler embodying the inventionas illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, shown in use.

FIG. 4 is a perspective, part cut away, view of the outer body of a haircurler embodying this invention, having an alternative configuration tothat illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the inner spindle of a hair curlerembodying this invention adapted to be utilized in conjunction with theouter body as illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view of a hair curler embodying the inventionas shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 being applied to a lock of hair.

Referring to FIG. 1 the outer component 10 of the invention comprises anend disc 11 having a knurled periphery 12. A tubular portion 13, ofsubstantially equilateral triangular section, extends outwardly from,and substantially at right angles to one face of disc 11. A plurality ofholes 14 are formed in the walls of tubular 3,173,430 Patented Mar. 16,1965 portion 13 to give it lightness and added resiliency. A slot 15 iscoincident with one apex of the triangular section of tubular portion 13and extends inwardly from the outermost edge of tubular portion 13 to aposition adjacent to the inner face of end disc 11. A substantiallyrectangular cut out 16 is formed in each side of tubular portion 13 atits innermost end.

Slot 15 is adapted to permit hair to be threaded therethrough, and cutouts 16 are adapted to permit each side of tubular portion 13 toprotrude arcuately outwardly upon pressure being applied from the insideof tubular portion 13.

Referring to FIG. 2, a spool 20 of substantially circular, conicalconfiguration supports a smooth edged disc 21 at the small end thereofand a knurled edge disc 22 at the larger end thereof. Disc 21 is adaptedto slidably fit within tubular portion 13 as illustrated in FIG. 1 anddisc 22 is of substantially the same diameter as disc 11 as illustratedin FIG. 1. A spiral ridge 23 is formed on the outer surface of spool 20and extends from the inner face of disc 21 to the inner face of disc 22.

A slot 24 is formed in the periphery of knurled disc 22 and extendsradially inwardly as far as spool 20.

Both outer component 10 and inner spool 20 are made of a soft,resilient, plastic or rubber material or the like.

Referring to FIG. 3, the method of utilizing a hair curler embodying theinvention as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, is shown.

Spool 21) is placed adjacent the head with disc 22 nearest the scalp. Alock of hair 26 is inserted in slot 24 in disc 22, and outer component10 is then assembled upon spool 20, hair 26 being inserted in slot 15 oftubular portion 13 and permitted to extend outwardly therefrom.

Disc 21 of spool 20 is in permanent, frictional engage ment with theinner walls of tubular portion 13 of outer component 10 and, therefore,upon removal of any external force, spool 26 and outer component 10remain locked in their relative positions.

Spool 20 is held static by the operator gripping the knurled disc 22 andouter component 10 is rotated thereon, causing hair 26 to wind aroundspool 20. The slope of the conical portion of spool 20 in combinationwith spiral ridge 23 causes hair 26 to remain as close as possible tothe narrow end of spool 20 adjacent disc 21. Continued rotation of outercomponent 10 causes hair 26 to form into coils upon spool 20. Thesecoils are permitted to build up to a diameter greater than the diameterof disc 21 and exert outward pressure on the inner walls of tubularportion 13 of outer component 10. Due to the resiliency of the materialin combination with holes 14 formed therein and cut outs 16, the tubularportion 13 is permitted to extend outwardly to a certain extent therebyholding the coils of hair 26 tightly.

Succeeding coils of hair 26 may be formed in a like manner upon rotationof end disc 11 of outer component 10. There is sufficient space betweenspool 20 and the inner walls of tubular portion 13 of outer component 10to accommodate all the hair 26.

Upon the end of hair 26 moving through slot 15 it is retained Withintubular portion 13, and, upon the op erator releasing both outercomponent 10 and spool 20 the complete assembly as shown remainssuspended from the root end of hair 26. Any subsequent shrinkage of hair26 due to drying is compensated for by the resiliency of tubular portion13 which maintains a pressure on the coils of hair 26 formed therein,thus eifectively locking outer component 10 with inner spool 20 at .alltimes.

Removal of outer component 10 from spool 29 releases the coils of hair26 and permits the operator to unravel the coils of hair from spool 20and, upon spool 20 being removed, hair 26 remains in its coiledconfiguration.

Referring to FIG. 4 an alternative construction of the invention isshown in which an outer component 30 comprises an end disc 31, having aknurled periphery, and an open ended cylinder 32 extending outwardlyfrom the face thereof. A plurality of holes 33 are formed in the wallsof cylinder 32 for added resiliency and lightness and a longitudinalslot 34 is also formed in the walls of cylinder 32 extending from theouter edge to a position adjacent the face of end disc 31. End disc 31is bored axially to form a socket 43.

Referring to FIG. 5, an inner component 35 comprises a solid cylindricalspool 36 extending outwardly from an end disc 37 of substantially thesame diameter as end disc 31 of outer component 30. The periphery of enddisc 37 is knurled and a radially inwardly extending slot 38 is formedin the outer edge thereof. The outer transverse wall 39 of spool 36supports a bulbous spigot 40 in axial alignment therewith. Spigot 40 isadapted to snap into socket 43 of outer component 30, and although beingaxially retained, spigot 40 and socket 43 may rotate independently ofeach other.

Upon assembly of inner component 35 to outer component 30, spigot 49 isadapted to be fully housed within socket 43 upon outer wall 39 of spool36 contacting the inner face of end disc 31 while the outer edge ofcylindrical body 32 of outer component 3% simultaneously contacts theinner face of end disc 37 of inner component 35.

Referring to FIG. 6, the method of application of the invention asillustrated in FIGS. 4 and is shown, in

which substantially the root end of a lock of hair 41 is inserted inslot 38 of inner component 35, to be subsequently passed outwardlythrough slot 34 of outer component 30, upon assembly of outer componentto inner component as previously described.

Inner component 35 may then be held stationary and outer component 30rotated causing hair 41 to coil around spool 36 of inner component 35.Continuous rotation of outer component 30 causes hair 41 to move intothe body of cylindrical portion 32 and form a plurality of coilstherein. Coils of hair 41 form around spindle 36 and force the body ofcylinder 32 to expand outwardly, the coils of hair are thus tightlygripped by cylindrical body 32 and, upon drying out, hair 41 continuesto be gripped by cylinder 32.

The complete assembly as described in FIG. 6 remains interlocked andclose to the wearers head until axial pressure releases outer component39 from inner component 35, permitting outer component 30 to be slid offthe coils of hair 41 in the one direction and spool 36 of innercomponent 35 to be slid in an opposite direction away from the centresof the coils of hair 41.

It should be noted that in both forms of the invention the twocomponents are interlocked from the beginning and, therefore, howevershort hair 26 or hair 41 may be, the interlocking of the component partsof the invention is not affected.

It should also be noted that hair curled utilizing these devices iscoiled close to the scalp and the free end of the hair is automaticallyincluded with the remainder of the coils.

It may be seen that the method by which the hair is coiled into theinvention from the root end outwardly produces the highly desirableeffect of pincurls or the like extending right up to the scalp, othermethods produced pincurls which terminate at varying distances from thescalp.

It should be further noted that the present invention is manufactured ofrelatively soft material with no metal clips or other locking devicesand therefore does not damage the hair or cause discomfort to the wearerthrough banging or scratching of the head.

The general design of the individual parts of the invention as explainedabove may be varied according to the requirements in regards tomanufacture or production thereof, while still remaining within thespirit and principle of the invention, without prejudicing the noveltythereof.

The embodiments of this invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A hair curler comprising an inner member and an outer member, saidinner member having a knob means and a small end, said knob means andsaid small end having a disc like configuration, the portion of saidinner member between said small end and said knob means having a coneconfiguration, a slot formed from the periphery and substantiallytowards the centre of said knob means, said outer member having a knobportion and a tubular compressibly resilient body portion of triangularcross section, said knob portion and said knob means b ing ofsubstantially the same size and configuration, said body portion beingsecured to said knob portion in three corner positions, said threecorner positions in spaced apart relationship to the circumference ofsaid knob portion, the three flat sides of said body member beingprovided with a plurality of holes and a slot formed substantially thefull length of said body member along one corner, said small end of saidinner member being slidably received within said body portion of saidouter member and being of such transverse dimension as to frictionallyengage the three fiat sides of said body member, and said knob means ofsaid inner member and said knob means of said outer member are inparallel, spaced apart relation when said hair curler is in an assembledcondition.

2. A hair curler as claimed in claim 1 comprising a coarse pitch threadformed on the exterior surface of said cone.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,889,227 Sterling Nov. 29, 1932 2,611,377 Barnes Sept. 23, 19522,767,719 Warholak Oct. 23, 1956 2,781,047 Whitehill Feb. 12, 1957

1. A HAIR CURLER COMPRISING AN INNER MEMBER AND AN OUTER MEMBER, SAIDINNER MEMBER HAVING A KNOB MEANS AND A SMALL END, SAID KNOB MEANS ANDSAID SMALL END HAVING A DISC LIKE CONFIGURATION, THE PORTION OF SAIDINNER MEMBER BETWEEN SAID SMALL END AND SAID KNOB MEANS HAVING A CONECONFIGURATION, SLOT FORMED FROM THE PERIPHERY AND SUBSTANTIALLY TOWARDSTHE CENTER OF SAID KNOB MEANS, SAID OUTER MEMBER HAVING A KNOB PORTIONAND A TUBULAR COMPRESSIBILY RESILIENT BODY PORTION OF TRIANGULAR CROSSSECTION, SAID KNOB PORTION AND SAID KNOB MEANS BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLYTHE SAME SIZE AND CONFIGURATION, SAID BODY PORTION BEING SECURED TO SAIDKNOB PORTION IN THREE CORNER POSITIONS, SAID THREE CORNER POSITINS INSPACED APART RELATIONSHIP TO THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF SAID KNOB POR-